Hall of Fame: Inside the process

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For 6 hour, 45 minutes in Tampa on Saturday, we listened, debated and deliberated.

At the end, you feel happy for the people who were voted into Pro Football Hall of Fame, but also hamstrung because the Class of 2009 couldn’t be larger. Trimming the list of 15 modern-era finalists to 10 and then five left everyone exasperated because it meant leaving out players who belong in the Hall.

In my case, there also were feelings of inadequacy, because my presentation for Cortez Kennedy didn’t even get the Seahawks’ former Pro Bowl defensive tackle into the round of 10. But there was enough support “in the room” – as the process has been dubbed – to make me believe Tez will make it, if not next year then the year after that.

Rules prohibit members of the 44-person selection committee from revealing exactly what goes on “in the room” – and especially what is said about the candidates because the promise of confidentially is what allows truly open debate.

But he’s an insider’s look, within the rules, at what happened:

Each candidate is presented by a media member from the city where the contender spent the bulk of his NFL career, as the committee is comprise of one representative from each NFL city, 11 at-large selectors and the president of the Pro Football Writers of America.

First up were the senior candidates – former Cowboys wide receiver Bob Hayes and ex-Falcons/Eagles defensive end Claude Humphrey. After their presentations, they are voted on separately from the 15 modern-era candidates. It’s a simple “yes” or “no” vote, with 80 percent “yes” needed for inclusion in the class.

I voted for Hayes, who made it; but not for Humphrey, who didn’t.

Then, it was on to the 13 modern-era players and two contributors – Bills owner Ralph Wilson and former commissioners Paul Tagliabue.

In the two years I’ve been on the committee, the heaviest – and most-heated – debate has involved Tagliabue. It has become clear that the pro-Tags selectors are not going to convince his detractors that he should be in the Hall, and vice versa. I’m not sure how to rectify the situation, but these meetings will continue to be six-plus hours as long as this remains the case.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King has made Tagliabue’s presentation the past three years, and King admits frustration this morning in his “Monday Morning Quarterback” feature on SI.com.

Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News and Mark Craig of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who was subbing for Sid Hartman, were busy – as each made three presentations.

Gaughan was very convincing in support of Wilson, and assisted by a follow-up presentation by Vic Carucci, a long-time beat writer for the Bills who now works for NFL.com and was subbing for Mike Chappell of the Indianapolis Star.

It also helped when someone else pointed out that if you think Wilson belongs in the Hall, vote for him now rather than later because Wilson is 90. It worked for me, and obviously others.

Once the 15 modern-era presentations were completed, the finalists were trimmed to a group of 10.

Then, another round of discussion on the remaining 10, before the list was trimmed to five. This was very difficult, because Smith and Woodson were slam-dunk choices in their first year of eligibility. That left only three spots, with more than three worthy candidates.

My final five: McDaniel, Sharpe, Smith, Wilson and Woodson.

The official final five: McDaniel, Smith, Thomas, Wilson, Woodson.

“Losing” Tez after the first round allowed me to add another player to my list – McDaniel. Being convinced that Wilson was Hall worthy, and this was the year to do it, cost me one – Sharpe.

But even that wasn’t the end of it. Each of the final five was voted on again, one by one. Each needed the same 80-percent “yes” votes to become a member of the Class of ’09. I voted “yes” for each candidate.

The selectors then filed into a larger room down the hall, where the announcements were made on live TV – or at least the NFL Network. The selectors found out who “made it” at the same time as everyone else in the room.

One of the highlights this year was watching Smith, still a striking figure of a man, tear up and then offered, “I cry not because I’m less of a man. I cry because I am a man.”

Another came when Lucille Hester, sister of the late Hayes, read a letter her brother had left – just in case – before he died in 2002: “I would like to thank everyone who supported me to get into the NFL Hall of Fame – the Dallas Cowboy organization, all my teammates, and everyone who played for the Cowboys. Thanks to the committee who voted for me, and also for the ones who might not have. Tell all my teammates I love them. And just thank everyone in the whole world.”

The clincher, however, was seeing the imposing Smith, the player, and the frail Wilson, the owner, embrace.